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PARK CITY, Utah — They’ve been dubbed two of the hottest rising young stars of our era, and in the new movie from Drake Doremus, Like Crazy, they tackle the biggest question known to humankind: What is love?

Moreover, what does love look like in the 21st century, now that Blackberrys, iPads and the invention of Skype have redefined the very essence of communication and courting?

For Sundance Film Festival breakout star Felicity Jones and the near-ubiquitous Anton Yelchin (Star Trek, The Beaver, The Kids Are All Right), just getting a handle on the big beautiful noodle of romantic affection was one of the deeper rewards in an already risky project.

“I really wanted to be in this movie,” says Jones, who earned a Jury citation for her performance as Anna, a young Englishwoman who falls in love while studying in the U.S. “I read the script, which was really just a document with scenes, and it had a strong emotional quality that a lot of scripts do not have. It had a reality to it, and it had feelings that you could immediately identify and empathize with; these were real people in a real situation. And I just think the idea of love is so compelling. It’s what makes it all meaningful, isn’t it?”

A low-budget, character-driven piece where every scrap of dialogue was created by the two leads in dynamic rehearsal, Like Crazy won the Jury award at Sundance, winning over not just juror Jason Reitman, who “loved it like crazy,” but buyers, as well.

The movie was one of a handful to ink big deals in Park City, quickly signing with Paramount and Indian Paintbrush for a deal worth about $14 million US. No wonder the mood is jubilant, as Jones and Yelchin mill around a coffee table garnished with doughnuts on their press day.

“We all got along,” says Yelchin, who will reprise his role as Chekov when Star Trek reboots next year. “We got to spend a couple of weeks together, just me and Felicity and Drake. It’s luck that we got along, we connected, and we all just talked about that delusional feeling of being in love. We are all committed to getting there, and through the improvisation process, I think we figured out the places we had to go, emotionally.”

Like Crazy is more of a mood piece than a plot-driven drama. It places us alongside two lovers as they meet, connect, fall madly in love, and then face the reality of everyday obstacles. It’s a familiar place for any audience in a movie theatre, but what makes Like Crazy feel a little different is the way Doremus integrates modern technology into the mix.

“I think it’s a very contemporary film for that very reason,” says Jones. “It’s the Love Story of our generation, because Drake does integrate texting and technology into the fabric of the narrative. He makes it feel pertinent today, but in a very realistic way.”

Digital does make a difference to our everyday lives, and Doremus scratches at the shift in the way his two lovers connect, or not, as the case may be.

“There are scenes were Anna actually uses the technology to encircle Jacob,” says Jones. “And (Doremus) also asks us:Where are you? Where should you be? You can be in a room talking to different people, but in a completely different headspace, via these new tools of communication.”

Jones says it was brave for Doremus to even incorporate technology, but that he gets to question it in subtle ways only makes for a stronger dramatic arc, because it touches on layers of awareness, and how love blurs everything.

“There are times when the technology is complicating everything, but there are times when it helps them be together at some level. But technology is all about control, isn’t it? So a lot of it comes down to individual choices, and how we use things,” she says. “Drake never forced any of that. And in doing so, I think he encapsulates a very modern world and that feeling of slight displacement.”

Jones says it’s modern for another reason, as well: “My character makes all the decisions. She’s in control of the relationship, and I think there’s something very modern about that: She wants Jacob and she goes for it. I find very few films will give that power to a woman. Very few films bring the complexity of the female experience to the screen.”

Jones’ desire for the good roles that allow women the creative breadth they deserve has certainly delayed her stardom in North America. But in Britain, the daughter of a broadcast journalist and a mother who came from the world of fashion is already a sensation mentioned in the same breath as Carey Mulligan and Emily Blunt.

She actually turned down the role of Snow White in the massive Montreal-spun production for a stage play that gave her a chance to improvise, so her artistic selectivity is sincere.

“I’ve never felt as emotionally involved as I did with Like Crazy,” she says. “Getting a chance to write every line was an actor’s dream. And my character is strong: She’s just obsessed with Jacob. She can’t let it go. And he’s so passive. I always think she’s going to be fine, because she knows what she wants, but Jacob Yelchin says to have no pity for his character, Jacob. He knows what’s coming, and he’s happy to surrender. “He’s consumed by love,” he says, smiling. “That’s why this movie works for so many people. I had a group of very attractive middle-aged women come up to me after the screening and tell me they loved the movie because they remember,” he says. “They remember that first beautiful love, where you are just consumed by this emotion that you can’t get out of, so you just end up broken by it. These characters have that love, have that beautiful thing, and then spend the rest of their relationship trying to recapture that feeling.”

Yelchin says love is always a heartbreaker when it’s real and it doesn’t work out, which is sort of what happens in life. His generation can’t change the laws of attraction.

“I think true love is possible for a day, for a year, for 10 years, a lifetime. Whatever, it can happen. I think the greatest film about love is (Jean-Luc Godard’s 1963 movie)Contempt. It’s about love, but it’s also about the disintegration of the relationship between two human beings, due to material circumstances. That’s real. Drake actually finds compassion instead of contempt, but he does it through his position as voyeur. He’s not the detached observer. You really feel the gaze in this movie; it’s very intimate and engaged, as though he’s watching these people with a vested interest in how it all turns out — as though he’s looking for answers to the same questions as the ones faced by characters: Can love last?”

Like Crazy screens at the Vancouver International Film Festival Thursday Sept. 29 and Friday, Oct. 7. It opens theatrically in October.

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VIFF: Like Crazy portrays lovers in a digital mood

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